15 Holiday Desserts Made with 5 Ingredients or Less

Though this bread pudding is a luscious make-ahead dessert, it works equally well as a decadent Christmas morning breakfast – or, heck, a breakfast for any morning that deserves a little something special.

Instead of serving a baked fruit crisp in a casserole dish, why not serve the crunchy, spicy oat topping inside the fruit itself? This autumnal recipe can be prepped ahead of time and baked while you eat dinner for a fresh-from-the-oven dessert.

The typically British fruit-and-cream trifle goes to the tropics for the holidays, getting a refreshing touch of pineapple and coconut and a rich blast of cream cheese. It’s a no-bake dessert that tastes like a heat wave.

Chocolate mousse can often be too heavy and cloying, but this lightened-up version combines the fluffy texture of a mousse with the lightness of a pudding. If you love Three Musketeers bars, you’ll be a fan of this maple-infused dessert.

If you’ve never tried Biscoff spread, you’re in for a treat. This cinnamon-brown sugar spread is made from crushed Belgian Biscoff cookies, also known as speculoos. Find it in the peanut butter section of the supermarket.

Mascarpone, an Italian version of cream cheese, adds a little European elegance to a simple parfait. Layered with fresh, tangy raspberries and your favorite cookies, it’s a shortcut dessert with sensational results.

The act of making caramel is magical in its simplicity: dairy and sugar bubble into a gooey, sweet sauce that hardens on its own. Your magic wand? A candy thermometer. It may seem like an investment, but when family and friends ask for these caramels again and again, it’ll be worth its weight in gold.

Cream puffs are a guaranteed crowd-pleaser: they seem like fancy French pastry, but make them just once and you’ll see that they’re easier than baking a batch of cupcakes. Fill the puffs with pre-made pudding and whipped cream as a reward for all that “hard work.”

This incredible eggless pudding has actually been around since Shakespeare’s day. Based on an old English dessert called a posset, it uses the natural acidity of citrus juice to thicken cream to a pudding-like texture.

If you’ve ever steered clear of homemade fudge because you feared it would be gritty, try this version. Mini marshmallows and evaporated milk keep the texture light and smooth and the classic chocolate flavor can’t be beat.